Eruption: "Cloaks of Oblivion"

Giving the oldies a run for their money, one down-stroked thrash chord at a time.

Who would've thought a country like Slovenia would be home to some absolutely world class acts? Of course it isn't really a stretch of the imagination, but even so it's not often you hear from them on an international basis. In 2016, Teleport impressed with progressive thrash tunes on the Ascendance EP, but 2017 is ruled supremely by Eruption.

Panikk: "Discarded Existence"

Hits and misses from Slovenia

The worst thing a band can suffer from is being part of the dime a dozen crowd. At least if you're absolutely terrible you'll still stand out. Nothing is more taunting and antagonistic than a band that is just boring. During my first run through Discarded Existence, the second album from Slovenia's Panikk, this was my immediate concern with these thrashers.

Cvinger: "Monastery of Fallen"

Corpsepainted, thunderous black metal - Melodies not allowed

Traditionally schooled, Slovenia's Cvinger weighs in with a heavy reliance upon the old customs of second wave black metal. Monastery of Fallen confidently builds on a foundation of cascading torrents of furious blast beats set to the cold moods created by the dogma of ruthless tremolo riffing, lead singer Lucerus' vocals chiming in with the raw doctrines of every black metal curse in the book.